My Father's Yucca

It's Father's Day, and like a lot of people, I'm thinking about my dad. But, I'm thinking about my dad a lot these days because earlier this year, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He's Norwegian and very tight-lipped about both the cancer and the treatments. I do know that the treatments make him tired, so he hasn't been able to put in his garden this year. There's no tomato contest between the two of us for the first time in a long time. He always won, so it really was never much of a contest. But, it makes me sad that he's not able to do something that gives him so much joy.

Four years ago, I re-did the courtyard garden at his home. He lives in Chicago and I make regular trips to do his flower beds. (Like the Riverman, my dad will do veggies, but not flowers!) The courtyard had been taken over by yucca. They loved the sun and warmth they were getting in his courtyard and had spread far beyond their original plan. He wanted fewer of them and I wanted to give them a whirl in my gardens. Neither of us was sure they'd survive in Minneapolis, but I took six plants and stuck them in different locations in my gardens.

The Reader's Digest Condensed Version of the story is that the tiniest two of the six survived. And, just this year, they each got a flower stalk. And, just today -- on Father's Day -- they bloomed.